Backpacking Canada, the Big Empty

Empty of people, that is. Because the 3,000 miles of wilderness that stretch from Newfoundland's fjordlike coastal cliffs to British Columbia's rainforest and skyscraping peaks are brimming with every type of mountain, water, and wildlife adventure a card-carrying backpacker could want&mdash;crowds not included. Our Rocky Mountain Field Editor spent two months exploring places we've never covered to assemble our most extensive guide to Canadian backcountry yet.

Forget immunizations, visas, phrase books, and 12-hour flights. For an epic international adventure, just head north. Canada’s cred? The world’s longest coastline, 10 major mountain chains, more lakes than any other country, and five Alaskas worth of world-class wilderness.

We’ve scouted eight challenging trips in four provinces, all easy to reach and close enough to major American cities that you won’t blow your budget just getting there. Or going back for more.

British Columbia

This west-coast province is larger than Washington, Oregon, and California combined. You could spend lifetimes exploring B.C.’s 81 mountain ranges, but first try this sweet trio of routes, including an ultra-wild high-mountain trek, a pair of gorgeous huts, and historic glacier mountaineering.

Hit four technical summits in the birthplace of North American mountaineering.

Saskatchewan

This Texas-size province north of Montana and North Dakota is known for its prairies, but more than half of it is actually a forested canoe kingdom (think Boundary Waters on steroids). Canoes are to Canada as covered wagons were to America, and they remain one of the best ways to experience Saskatchewan’s wild country.

Canada’s most populous province is a land of lakes—Great ones. For an untamed taste of the world’s largest stretch of freshwater, check out Superior’s North Shore, where Ice Age glaciers and storm-tossed waves have sculpted the granite coastline into a wilderness of steep hills and deep gorges with a sprinkling of stunted evergreens.

For 30 years, some wide-eyed dreamers have been chiseling a 745-mile route through the Canadian Rockies. The result is a labor of love set to become one of North America's most magnificent long trails.

When it came to continent crossing, the noted U.S. explorers were a step behind Canada's Alexander Mackenzie. And until you hike his namesake trail, you can't truly appreciate the toughness of his journey or the magnitude of his accomplishment.

Looking for a really wild time? Grab your passport and head to Canada, where the mountains are big, the views stretch beyond your imagination, and you can't fling a moose pellet without hitting some kind of wildlife.

Forget immunizations, visas, phrase books, and 12-hour flights. For an epic international adventure, just head north. Canada's cred? The world's longest coastline, 10 major mountain chains, more lakes than any other country, and five Alaskas worth of world-class wilderness.We've scouted eight challenging trips in four provinces, all easy to reach and close enough to major American cities that you won't blow your budget just getting there. Or going back for more.